Oct 11, 2007

Why are we having politicians make decisions about scientific matters?

It upsets me enormously to turn on my radio on my way to work (and I listen to the radio a lot as I have a long commute to NYC) and to hear plastics get a bad rap again! San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi announced earlier this year that by next year San Francisco will ban plastic bags from all major grocery stores. These folks who probably never took one chemistry course in their entire lives are determining paper or plastic at the grocery store?!

I honestly believe we should be mindful of our environment, but let us not be drawn in by these mindless statistics thrown on news broadcasts. They do a quick flash to landfills and how these bags are not biocompostable to how much petroleum we use (180 million bags a year are used in San Francisco). Polyethylene (PE) bags may sit for who knows how long, probably many years in a landfill, however, they are harmless. Less than 1% of the volume in landfills is occupied by these products, and only fractions of one percent of petroleum reserves produce all PE products.

What I find interesting is that paper is touted as the “desirable” material, or in San Francisco, they are touting biocompostable plastic bags. Yet both do not biodegrade as readily when disposed of in airless landfills. Paper also has the disadvantage of occupying more space, taking more energy to produce, and “we’re killing our trees”.

The decision to ban the polystyrene clamshells from McDonalds in the 1980s was another political decision. I used to work for Huntsman in the Expanded Polystyrene business and felt that one too. At the time there were rightful concerns around the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). But CFCs were replaced by pentane or carbon dioxide to expand the polystyrene. Today a researcher from the Oprah show approached Joe Schwarcz, Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Canada, with concerns of residual styrene leaching into food from containers. There are concerns around styrene as a potential carcinogen; however, studies of workers exposed to the chemical have not shown increased cancer rates.

For those of you who really care about the environment, please consult a scientist who also cares, and who will gather data to balance the pros and cons to give you an informed opinion.

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